The Alleys of Ponyville: Short Stories from the Noireverse

by PonyJosiah13

War's Over

Prowl hugged the foamy mug of beer close to her chest and stared at the white unicorn mare with the long blue mane and blue carnation on her flanks sitting a few tables away. Blue Rose clearly was aware of her presence but politely chose to ignore her, focusing instead on the aqua blue teenaged pegasus sitting at the bar, giggling as she chatted with a light green stallion with the wispy mane, the two of them sharing a large ice cream float.

"You should talk to her."

Prowl looked over at her husband with a small frown. Maple Leaf was currently lifting a spoon of applesauce to Skysong's mouth, their infant daughter babbling happily from her high chair. All around them was the regular quiet chatter of patrons enjoying a late lunch at the Apple Pie in Your Eye.

"What would I say to her?" Prowl asked. "She..." She had to fight down the urge to call Rose it. "She wouldn't want to talk to me anyway."

"You don't know that," Maple Leaf replied, succeeding in getting the spoon into Skysong's mouth. "Prowl, I know that you're still struggling with seeing changelings as equals. But stewing alone won't solve anything. It won't make the hate and anger and pain go away on its own."

Prowl scowled and glared at the foam in her beer mug as if it had offended her. Damn it, she hated when her husband was right about these things.

Maple Leaf draped a wing around his wife and pulled her body to him so that she felt his warmth, the comforting scent of flowers and tree bark emanating from his coat. "I don't expect you to make friends," he said, nuzzling between her ears. "But I think that making peace with her is a step to making peace with yourself."

Prowl thought for a little while, then sighed and nodded. "Maybe you're right," she admitted, taking a low draught of the bitter beer, gulping it down like she thought it was a potion of courage. Then she stood up, drink in hoof, and trotted over to Blue Rose's table.

The disguised changeling looked up at her approach, greeting her with a composed mask of neutrality. "Sergeant," she nodded.

"Miss Rose," Prowl nodded in greeting. She looked over at the small pegasus with the ladybug cutie mark, who had looked up when the thestral approached her mother; Prowl saw Ocellus' nostrils flare as she sniffed. The stallion put a hoof on Ocellus' shoulder and seemed to whisper something reassuringly.

"How is she?" Prowl asked.

"Doing well," Rose nodded, taking a sip from her neat whisky. "First couple of nights after the break-in, she wanted to sleep with me." She smiled briefly. "Reminded me of when she was a little kid. She would cry if she couldn't sleep with me."

Prowl found herself smiling. "Sounds like my baby. For the first couple of months, she would bawl her eyes out if we left her in the crib by herself."

A smile twitched at Blue Rose's lips and her nostrils flared briefly. She leaned towards Prowl a bit, prompting the thestral to immediately recoil.

"Sorry, sorry," Blue Rose said, shaking her head and backing off as she regained control. "Instinct. I smelled your love for your daughter and...well, it's kinda like if you smelled a really good pizza."

Prowl closed her eyes and took a slow breath, willing her hoof to move away from her weapon. "I see," she nodded. "So...you actually do eat love?"

"Yup," Blue Rose nodded. "We can use other emotions if need be--I had to subsist off of lust for a long time--but love is best for us. We even condense it into honey to feed our babies."

"Just seems odd, eating an emotion," Prowl frowned.

Blue Rose shrugged. "I guess it's kinda like a plant living off of sunlight. It's not something I can really explain to a non-changeling."

Prowl sipped at her beer as she pondered her next question. "So...who's Ocellus' father?" she asked.

Blue Rose winced, slopping some of her whisky around. "Sorry," Prowl immediately apologized. "I didn't think--"

"It's fine," Blue Rose muttered, mopping liquor off her front. She took a breath, then started talking, staring down at the tabletop instead of looking at Prowl.

"Ocellus' father was a drone in...the hive." She seemed to pull the word out of her lips, her face twisting in pain as she spoke. "I was a worker in the nursery. I'd seen a lot of babies growing up, but Ocellus..." She smiled and looked up at her daughter. "Ocellus was special. Smarter than the others, learned to talk faster. She preferred to read books and draw instead of hunting practice or sparring like the others.

"But then..." Rose shuddered violently, gripping her drink so tightly that Prowl briefly worried that the glass might crack. "...she singled her out. Decided that she wanted her to be her successor, decided that she was the smartest of all her children, just needed some discipline and royal jelly..."

Prowl felt her shoulders tensing up, staring at the muttering changeling glaring down at the table as if it had offended her. Rose was silent for a moment, then tossed back another sip of her drink and shook her head. "Sorry," she mumbled. "I just...that monster had already killed my hive's original queen, Ladybird, then murdered dozens of my brothers and sisters when they wouldn't kneel to her. I couldn't stand the idea that she'd turn that sweet little baby into a monster like her."

Prowl processed this statement, looking over at Ocellus, who was staring at her mother in confusion and concern. A sudden thunderbolt of realization flashed through Prowl's mind and her eyes widened. "Wait," she said. "Are you saying that Ocellus' mother is Chrys--"

"Do not say her name!"

Prowl flinched away from the vitriolic voice, looking over to see that Blue Rose's eyes had turned solid blue, blazing with a mixture of fear and rage. Silence dropped over the Apple Pie as every head turned towards them. Rose quickly dropped her head and covered her face, taking slow breaths to calm down.

"What's going on?" Ocellus asked, striding over with Sandbar behind her.

"It's fine, honey," Rose said, raising her head and hugging Ocellus to her side, her eyes now returned to their disguise. "I was just...talking."

"I'm sorry," Prowl apologized, lowering her head. "I didn't know that that would make you so upset."

"Yeah, you didn't," Rose nodded, swallowing. "But yeah, you-know-who was a monster who murdered the other kings and queens and sent their children to die in a suicidal war while she brutalized hers into becoming monsters; you'd be hard-pressed to find a changeling who was sad when Emperor Armor cut her head off."

She took another long drink of her whisky and grunted before continuing, hugging Ocellus closer to her. "I didn't want her corrupting Ocellus. So one night, a few of the other nursery workers and I took some of the nymphs and ran. We headed into Equestria and didn't look back, constantly moving from city to city, watching out for lynch mobs, police, and spies trying to bring us back to the Empire."

"Your own people were chasing you?" Prowl asked.

Rose nodded and swallowed. "If they'd caught us, we would've been taken back for torture and execution, and the nymphs would've been drafted as suicide grunts. There were a few close calls, but we survived."

"Why didn't you go back to the Empire after..." Prowl struggled to recall the names that she'd read in the newspaper four years ago. "Thorax and Pharynx took over?"

Rose pondered for a few moments in silence, then squeezed her daughter a little tighter to her. "It was tempting. Really tempting. Not like I liked being around creatures who hated me just for being who I was." She smiled at Ocellus. "But I wanted the best for my little girl. And Equestria has a better education system."

"I would've been happy in the Empire, mom," Ocellus smiled up at Rose.

"But you're happier here," Rose said, kissing her on the top of the head. "And that's what matters."

Ocellus giggled and looked over at Sandbar, who was smiling fondly at the little family. Prowl considered the embracing changelings for a moment, one hoof slowly spinning her glass of beer.

Mere months ago, when she looked at them, she would've seen two black monsters, red tongues slithering out in between glistening fangs as they hissed, dark eyes gleaming with greed and hatred as they crouched over the body of her master sergeant in the snow.

But instead, Prowl was looking down at a mother smiling at her daughter as she returned to her friend and her sundae.

"What's up?" Blue Rose asked, turning back to Prowl with a frown, her shoulders stiffening slightly.

"Just...bad memories," Prowl admitted.

Blue Rose nodded. "I get that." She took another sip of whisky, then asked, "Okay, why'd you come over here? I thought you hated us."

Prowl stared into the dregs of her beer for a long moment, then sighed. "I don't hate you," she mumbled.

Rose perked an eyebrow up. "News to me."

"No, I..." Prowl sighed. "The war's over. I need to put that behind me."

Rose stared at her for a moment, then sniffed the air, blinking in surprise. "Huh. You mean it," she mumbled.

The two sat in silence for a long time, both of them glancing at each other but carefully avoiding eye contact, quickly turning their gazes away if their eyes came close to meeting.

"Well," Rose grunted. "This isn't gonna get you on my Hearth's Warming list."

Despite herself, Prowl snorted with laughter and Rose let out a little titter. Prowl glanced over at Maple Leaf and found both her husband and daughter beaming at her. And a little weight that she hadn't even noticed that she'd been carrying for six years fell away.

Author's Note:

I've been looking forward to writing this for weeks, and now that the story of Blue Rose and Ocellus has been told, I can finally release this. I just wanted to tell a brief story of healing and forgiveness between two old foes of a sort, as well as a bit more backstory for Rose and Ocellus. Hope that you enjoyed!

Comments

[Piemaster128]

There are so many details of the war that have trickled in over the stories that I always enjoy when we get more background on what exactly happened

[PonyJosiah13]

10632503
That means a lot to read! I guess I just have a soft spot for underdeveloped characters, but Flash grew on me quite quickly after I watched the first EQG movie. Now he's one of my favorite parts of the stories!

[PonyJosiah13]

10632557
I regret not being able to go into more depth (lacking time and energy), but I do try to bring in more details when I can.

[Piemaster128]

10632595
I appreciate the effort nonetheless